Drowning Clowns

For the last five years, Mike Speranzo has been like a scientist in a secret lair, meticulously crafting this album piece by piece, nursing notions like babies, editing sound like a sculptor digging and shaving to find the crux. Slowly Mike has groomed this album into a stunning collaboration with Frank Spadafora, Liz Berlin, and actually, most of Pittsburgh. Frank and Mike have been playing in bands together since college, but with this project they have found a new level of collaborative freedom together. With the addition of Liz Berlin’s vocals, a blending occurred between the three, creating a new voice beyond male and female, lead and background, lyric and sound. Drowning Clowns' members are all veterans to the music scene, including: Mike Speranzo (co-owner of Together Holdings, Mr. Smalls Theatre, Skatepark and Recording Studio), Frank Spadafora (worked with Speranzo before in critically acclaimed band Crisis Car of Pittsburgh), Liz Berlin (Speranzo’s wife, solo artist, member of multi-platinum recording group Rusted Root, and co-owner of Mr. Smalls operations). In addition, probably 90% of Pittsburgh's most gifted musicians have collaborated or contributed to the recording in some way. The live band includes Mike, Frank, Liz and also Dirk Miller (The Speeds, Dirk Miller Allstars, Rusted Root), Shaggy Marcello (The Distractions, Loves Gun Shop), Nate Campesi (Airplane Graveyard), Mike Hammer, and Evan Smith (DC/Independant/Element Skateboarder).